Greenhouse structure



10, 1954 A. A. ZACHMAN 2,685,851

GREENHOUSE STRUCTURE Filed June 11, 1953 INVENTOR. Amp 1d 4. Zackman I BY 4:19 42 20 I "Lam".

ATTORNEY 'windows or ventilators.

Patented Aug. 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- GREENHOUSE STRUCTURE Arnold A. Zachman, St. Paul, Minn.

Application June 11, 1953, Serial No. 360,911

7 Claims.

1 This invention relates to an improvement in green house structure and deals particularly with a hinge joint for hingedly supporting the venltilating windows.

Green houses are commonly built with sloping roof portions which incline outwardly and downwardly from a ridge pole or apex beam. In order to provide the necessary ventilation and to per mit the entrance of air and sunshine when weather permits, it is usual practice to pivotally support certain portions of the glass roof so that these portions may swing upwardly out of the plane of the other roof portions. Due to the high humidity in green houses and the tendency for the moisture to condense on wall surfaces during cold weather, means must be provided for minimizing the tendency for the condensed moisture to drip from the roof. The present invention is particularly designed to provide a simple inexpensive hinge structure which will minimize difiiculties previously experienced with devices of this type.

In my previously filed application Serial No. 220,642, now abandoned, of which this application is a continuation in part, I have described a hinge construction in which a continuous socket is provided, this socket terminating in a flange which extends around the socket and ends in a vertical wall. Thehinge which is mounted in this socket comprises an elongated cylindrical member having its axis coaxial with the axis of the socket. The hinge includes this cylindrical member with a flange extending substantially radially therefrom which terminates in a hinge plate which extends in a downwardly inclined position when the vertical flange is not in contact with the edge of the socket. This feature is of importance in conducting condensation downwardly along an inclined path from the apex of the greenhouse.

A feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a metal ridge pole and hinge arrangement which will conduct moisture downwardly from the ridge pole and prevent the dropping of the moisture from the ridge pole upon plants or seeded areas located therebeneath.

The ridge pole has its undersurface inclined downwardly from the center and then enlarges to form the socket for the hinge. The flange of the hinge engages an edge of the socket in such a way that moisture conducted down the under surface of the ridge pole will be conducted along the enlarged edge thereof which contacts the flange of the hinge in closed position of the Moisture conducted to 2 this flange is conducted along the hinge plate to the window and is thereby prevented from dropping on to plants beneath these parts.

In providing a means of draining condensation which occurs when the humid interior air of a greenhouse or the like comes in contact with a metal plate which conducts heat from the interior of the greenhouse to the exterior thereof and which, therefore, assures a considerably lower temperature than the ambient air within the greenhouse moisture will condense on the cold surface. This moisture will drop from the low point of the metallic frame if no means is provided for conducting the moisture to an adjoining lower portion of the frame. By arranging the hinge so that it comes in intimate contact with the lowest portion of the socket, moisture draining down the inner surface of the socket will be conducted to the hinge plate and to the Window which provides a means of corn ducting moisture down an inclined path or dropping into the area below. This arrangement is particularly important in areas where low winter temperatures are experienced.

It is also important in the preferred form of the invention that a lip be provided extending beneath the socket for assuring the continuous conduction of moisture in a downward path. In actual practice this lip extends beneath an edge of the socket and insures a continuous conduction of moisture even though a slight separation between the hinge flange and the edge of the socket be slightly discontinuous throughout the length of the hinge. In other words, the lip pro vides a means of insuring close contact between the lowest edge of the socket and the hinge flange.

These and other objects and novel features of my invention will be more clearly and fully set forth in the following specification and claims.

In the drawings forming a part of my specification:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a section of a greenhouse roof showing in general the construction thereof.

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view through the apex portion of the roof showing the ridge pole and hinge construction.

The green house is formed with a ridge pole l0 extending longitudinally of the roof and forming the apex between two sloping roof surfaces. The ridge pole ill is shown as including a vertical web H which is reinforced by a generally cylindrical bead l2 extending along the upper extremity of the web H. The lower extremity l3 of the web II is integrally connected. to two downwardly and outwardly inclined webs M and I5. In the specific form of construction illustrated, the web it is connected to a portion of the roof which is permanently mounted or which is immovable. The web I is shown as including a hinge socket for connection with a pivoted window. In place of the specific form of construction illustrated, both of the webs M and it may 2e socketed for engagement with a pivoted win- The ridge pole i is supported by a casting Hi which may be of aluminum and which is bolted or otherwise connected at H to the webs M and IS. The casting It is bolted or otherwise connected at 19 to a truss stem 29 which acts as a roof support. The specific means of supporting the ridge pole it! may be varied. The web I is connected to the upper extremities of a series of roof glazing bars 2! which support the panes of glass forming the glass top roof. The glazing bars 2! are provided with flanges 22 upon which the glass panes 23 may be supported. Suitable packing material or sealing material such as putty or sealing compound is indicated at 24 between the glazing bar and the glass panes 23. The glass panes are usually supported in overlapping relation and are often held in place by clips or similar means specifically made for this purpose. Bolts or other fastening means such as 25 hold the glazing bars 2! to the flange I5.

The web i4 is provided with an enlargement 25 at its lower extremity which extends longitudinally of the web throughout the length thereof or at least throughout the length of the window to be supported by the web [4. The enlargement 26 is provided with a generally cylindrical outer surface as indicated at 2! and the enlargement is connected to the undersurface of the web It along a substantially vertical plane 29. The plane 29 may slope downwardly and outwardly at a small. angle from the vertical if preferred.

A cylindrical socket SE! is provided in the enlargement 25 extending throughout the length thereof. This socket 30 is slotted along its undersurface, the slot extending from a wall 3! generally below the axis of the socket to a wall 32, substantially 45 to 60 from the wall 3|. The socket is designed to pivotally support an elongated cylindrical pivot 33 forming a part of the movable portion of the hinge. It will be seen that the pivot 33 must be assembled into the socket 30 from one end of the socket and when engaged in the socket can not be disengaged except by axial relative movement.

The cylindrical pivot 33 is connected by a short flange 341 to the hinge plate 35. The hinge is so designed that in closed position of the window the flange a l substantially abuts against the wall 3! of the socket slot. The inclined hinge plate 35 ordinarily slopes at an angle substantially parallel to the plane of the roof when the window is closed. The hinge plate 35 i connected by bolts or similar fastening means 35 to a series of spaced glazing bars 3'! which form partitions between the glass panes 39 forming the window panes of the pivotal vent or window.

As indicated in Figure 2 of the drawings, a short lip =36 forms a continuation of the hinge plate 35 and extends slightly beyond the flange 34. As a result in the closed position of the window, as shown in Figure 2, moisture draining down the inner surface 29 of the enlargement 26 will drain on to this lip 45. In previous constructions of the hinge, the lip 4b was eliminated and moisture draining down the inner surface of the enlargement 26- formed drops of condensation at the lower extremity of the socket and dropped down onto the plants positioned beneath the ridge pole. This falling condensation had a deleterious effect upon the plants and made it difficult to control the moisture in the soil containing such plants.

The glazing bars 31 forming a part of the vent or window are provided with opposed flanges 4| for supporting the glass panes 39 forming the transparent portion of the windows. Putty or other sealing compound i located between the glass panes 39 and the flanges ll as indicated at 42. Sealing compound 43 is also provided between the upper edges of the glass panes 39 and the hinge bar 35. The lower ends of the glazing bars 31 are connected by a longitudinally extending frame member 44 forming the lower edge of the window or vent. When the windows or vents are in open position, the danger of condensation on the surrounding frame parts is substantially decreased because of the equalization of temperature in the air and in the various frame parts. Therefore, the condensation problem ordinarily is experienced only when the windows or vents are in closed position. When the window is closed, moisture condensing on the ridge pole may drain downwardly along the inner surface of the ridge pole to the bottom of the socketed portion. This moisture is then collected by the lip 49 and the moisture may drain downwardly over the edge of the lip and along the undersurface of the hinge plate 35. This moisture may then drain down the undersurfaces of the glass panels forming the windows and most of the tendency for the moisture to drip from these parts is eliminated.

In accordance with the patent statutes, I have described the principles of construction and operation of my green house structure and while I have endeavored to set forth the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that obvious changes may be made within the scope of the following claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. A green house construction including a ridge pole having a downwardly and outwardly inclined web, an enlarged lower edge on said web, a continuous socket extending longitudinally in said enlarged lower edge said enlargement having a longitudinally extending slot therein extending from the lowest portion of the enlargement to an angularly spaced point on the other surface of the enlargement, a pivot axially rotatable in said socket, a flange connected to said pivot and extending downwardly therefrom a hinge plate connected to said flange and extending downwardly and outwardly substantially parallel to the web, and a lip extending upwardly and inwardly from said flange beneath the lowermost portion of the socket effecting the transfer or condensation found on the under surface of said flange to the under surface of said lip and down the window structure.

2. The structure described in claim 1 and including a window frame connected to said hinge.

3. The structure described in claim 1 and including a vent attached to said flange for pivotal movement in conjunction therewith.

4. The structure described in claim 1 and including a series of parallel glazing bars connected to said flange and a window frame member connecting the free ends of said glazing bars.

5. A window structure for green houses and the like including an inclined web having an enlarged lower edge, a socket in said edge extending longitudinally thereof, a pivot supported within said socket, said enlargement having a slot therein extending longitudinally thereof, said slot extending from substantially the lowermost portion of the enlargement to an angularly spaced point on the outer surface of the enlargement, a flange extending downwardly from said pivot through said slot and pivotal with said pivot, said flange substantially engaging the lowermost Wall of said slot in one extreme position thereof to receive and conduct condensation therefrom, a hinge plate connected to said flange and extending downwardly and outwardly therefrom, and a lip forming a continuation of said hinge plate and extending upwardly and inwardly from said flange to extend beneath the lowermost portion of said enlargement, said lip extending continuously along the upper edge of the hinge plate.

6. The structure described in claim 5 and including a window connected to said hinge plate for pivotal movement in conjunction therewith.

7. A green house vent construction including a ridge pole having a downwardly and outwardly inclined web, an enlarged lower edge on said web, a slot formed having an edge at the lower portion of said enlargement to provide an opening for said socket, a pivot axially rotatable in said socket, a flange connected to said pivot and extending downwardly therefrom through said slot, said flange contacting said edge of said slot in closed position of the vent, a hinge plate connected to said flange and extending downwardly and outwardly therefrom substantially parallel to said web in closed position of the vent, and a vent member connected to said hinge plate, condensation forming on said web, said enlarged lower edge, and said pivot, draining downwardly along said flange and then along said hinge plate to said vent in closed position of said vent.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 731,138 Stearns June 16, 1903 2,642,018 Weeber June 16, 1953 

